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Varlam Shalamov's MoscowLenin Library (new building)
Address: 3/5 Vozdvizhenka Street, Moscow
The new building of the Lenin Library. Photo: mi-smale.narod.ru
After his rehabilitation in 1956, Shalamov tried to make a literary comeback. He was publishing poems and reading constantly. He never had a large collection of books of his own, which was considered essential for any writer. Arrests, transfers, and little income after his time in Kolyma had made it impossible.
Until the end of the 1970s, when his health was still good, Shalamov was a regular visitor and reader in the Lenin Library. No matter how embarrassing it was for Shalamov to read in the presence of others, the library gave this repressed writer the opportunity to connect with the world.
Varlam Shalamov in 1960. Photo: shalamov.ru
The new building of the Lenin Library. Photo: mi-smale.narod.ru
Varlam Shalamov in 1960. Photo: shalamov.ru